Sheila Goodman
Albany, NY

About Sheila

Senior, Chemical Engineering

For as long as I can remember I was a soccer player. My older brother
did it, my mom had played it, and my dad had helped coach it for so many
years when I was younger. It only seemed fit that I love the sport as
well. And I did for a while. In Middle school I spent my Fall’s on the
soccer team, and Spring’s on the track team. When I went to high school
I tried out for the soccer team, and made it. But as I got older I
noticed my interest in the sport start to dwindle. By my sophomore year I
had all but lost the love of the game. Fall of my Junior year I made the
switch to Cross Country, and could not be happier. After 16 years on a
soccer team with many of the same girls, I figured that the cross country
team would be just as distant and uninviting. But I have never felt as
close to a group of girls as I have when I joined a cross country team.
Coming to college and joining the RIT Women’s Cross Country team only
further helped me realize how I had made the right decision to switch to
running. In just one run, I became closer to many of the girls on the team
than I had with any of my fellow soccer teammates in years.

Many people don’t consider running a sport, let alone a team sport.
But what people don’t realize is how much hard work and dedication every
single runner puts in behind the scenes. It isn’t just the races that
make the sport, but the hours on the track, the long runs through the
trails with your teammates, and the passion that gets you through each
workout, and over each hill. Running is more than a sport to me now.
After being injured at least one season a year since coming to RIT, my
desire to run has only increased. A good run can change my whole
perspective on a day, lift my spirits, and relief all of my stress.
Running is what I do, and it’s what all of us do. It’s a part of us, and
I want to show the world what we’re capable of.

As my collegiate running career is coming to a close, Tiger Trail is a way to
run with my team one last time. Your team is your family, and at RIT and
I could not be any more proud of the young women who I have run side by
side with for so many years. Tiger Trail is a way to show everyone what RIT is
made of, what women athletes are made of, and what runners are made of.
And I am beyond excited to share such a memorable experience with such an
amazing group of young women!